Students Wear Black Lives Matter shirts during Spirit Week in support of the BLM movement. Photo by Erica McDonald

By Kevin Pai

As the issue of racism in policing continues to result in protests across the country, the Ann Arbor Police Department will undergo an audit to analyze its operations and determine if reforms are necessary in how the police engage with the community. The audit came about as a result of recommendations by the city’s Human Rights Commission following the controversial shooting of Aura Rosser, a 40-year-old black woman who was shot by a white police officer responding to a domestic dispute after police say she charged at the officer armed with a knife. The shooting resulted in much community outcry, though the AAPD has maintained that the shooting was justified. Still, the resulting controversy suggested a need for improved police-community relations. The AAPD also has been working with local Black Lives Matter leaders to organize safe, non-violent protests in Ann Arbor. blocking roads as well as escorting protesters. “We pride ourselves on staying current with what’s going on in the nation in order to better serve our community. We are firm believers in open communication and have forged strong relationships with various community groups and organizations,” says Thomas Hickey, the community manager of the AAPD. The AAPD has also created programs to educate youth such as a program addressing safe behavior when stopped by police. They also participate in a program called “Youth Connect” where officers have an open question and answer with convicted juveniles. "Most of these juvenile offenders have not had a positive experience with the police. We are committing time to work with the ‘Youth Connect Program’ which involves face time with our officers and having an open dialogue,” says Hickey. The audit will be complete by June 30, 2017 and will be looking for anything problematic in the AAPD such as racial discrimination in arrests. Pioneer student and Black Student Union member Olivia Tinsley said she is skeptical that the audit will change anything. “I think the audit would be supported by Black Lives Matter. Do I think things will change? Not really. They’d like us to believe there’s a good relationship now, but any person of color isn’t treated the same as a white person in Ann Arbor,” she said. Black Lives Matter protests have been gaining traction after cases like Ferguson, Mo., where Michael Brown was shot and killed by white police officer Darren Wilson in August 2014. A grand jury did not indict Wilson, and a later U.S. Justice Department investigation found no civil rights volations. Since then numerous other police shootings have gotten widespread attention. Through social media like Twitter, BLM has been spreading its message of equality not just for African Americans, but for other minorities and the LGBTQ community. “It has grown to be most prominent on Twitter as a way for people to show their support and spread the word on what’s going on and how to stop it; people are stronger in numbers,” says Tinsley. BLM activists recently had a rally in Ann Arbor. The AAPD supported the rally by blocking roads and traffic. Tinsley said she believed the police of Washtenaw County were not a threat to the local BLM community, but that the group also does not use violence as a form of protest. “I would not say that Black Lives Matter is threatened by the police in Washtenaw county, as seen in previous marches this summer,” she said. “It seems to be in their interest to cooperate with BLM. But then again, we haven’t had a big uprising due to police brutality. If that were to happen I think the relationship definitely would change and we’d have a problem.” Protests have been breaking out all over the country following police shootings, and reflect the anger and frustration that dwells within members of the BLM community and their supporters. Some protests have turned violent, something the Ann Arbor Police Department hopes to avoid with its stepped up efforts to more closely monitor police interactions with the community. “We have a strong working relationship with the BLM event coordinators,” said the AAPD’s Hickey. “Our goal, as well as theirs, is to have a safe and non-violent protest. Open communication and transparency has helped form a strong working relationship even during tumultuous times.”